Monday, 14th June, 2004 saw the Australian list of Honours from the Queens Birthday list and Jim Dunn has been recognised for his many years of hard work and dedication to the sport of Eventing in Australia.
Jim, from Ashbourne in South Australia has been awarded the OAM for his "dedication to the equestrian world" and this dedication goes back many years with his first overseas stint being as a Groom for the Australian Eventing Team at WEG Lexington in 1978, and then in 1983 he was appointed the Chef d'equip for a Junior Team who traveled to Indonesia where they won the Prince Phillip CCI* Junior Trophy in Bandung, which is high in the mountains of Indonesia.
This was obviously a sound foundation for Jim's later achievements as the Manager of the Olympic Three Day Team at Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000 where the teams brought home the Olympic Gold medals for the second and third consecutive times. Jim was also the Manager of the teams to World Championships in 1994, 1998 and 2002.
In 1981 Jim was appointed the Chair of National Eventing and in 1989 he took on the leadership of the National Selectors.
With the Athens Olympic Games, just around the corner now, Jim is the gentleman in the "hot seat" as he takes ultimate responsibility for the selection of all Australian Eventing Teams and with Australia under the spotlight, and the world wondering whether they can pull off a fourth Gold medal, there is no doubt that his job will not be an easy one - perhaps made all the more difficult because of the strength of the Eventing scene in Australia!
Jim also has in his "cabinet of achievements" his appointment as a Life Member of the South Australian Branch of the Equestrian Federation of Australia after serving for many years as both committee member and Vice Chair and he is also a founding member fo the South Australian Horse Trials Committee as well as being involved with the Stathalbyn Jumping Club since 1961 and in 1993 was made of Life Member of this Club.
Jim Dunn received his OAM in recognition of his service to the development of Eventing in Australia and also at Olympic level as a coach, manager, administrator and judge.
With the British team being touted by the bookmakers as the team who could take the Gold medal away from the Australian's ,we have no doubt that Jim will be working hard with his great team of selectors to pick the team which will hopefully "bring home the gold" to Australia at Athens in August this year making the Australian's the undisputed "royalty of eventing"!
